Lights of the Last Tower
by Dandelion1392
Summary: This is my first fanfiction, actually my first attempt at fiction writing at all. The story is about a Hunter and the friends she makes along her journey as a Guardian. It tells some of the many stories of those living in the Tower. Rated M for use of weapons, violence and just to be on the safe side. I don't own anything from the Destiny world, just like playing with it.
1. Prologue

Prologue

'So Blink, is it recording?'

'Yes...and don't do that'

'Ok, here goes...'

'Guardian Log entry 1, Current location, Tower, North - wait, do I really need to say all this?'

'It's important to log all data, its good practice'

'Fine' *sigh*

'What do I 'log' exactly?'

'Well, I believe the purpose of this is to store mission and scout reports, environmental data and the like for future reference, and more importantly to keep you sane'

'Well, maybe I should start with the day I woke up...yeh...'

That was my first entry, over 2 years ago now.

I'd been alive a little over two weeks, I've changed so much since then. The universe has changed.

Of course it's still me and Blink, and he still hates being called that.

'Guardian Log entry 736, current location, freezing my ass off!'

'Logs relative to the current crisis will be relayed to Lord Saladin, so be professional!'

'Ok, ok His Royal Blinkiness, anyway, landing site temporarily secured, although Fallen backup won't be far away, hourly area mapping scans shows constant activity. Now to Blink for the weather and traffic!'

'...As much as I enjoy your...quirky humour, we should really get to work'

'Right, up ahead there's what looks like an old cargo loading area, let's start there'

Our mission now was to gather as much intel on the area and clear it out, we are all reporting to Shiro-4 while we're out here in this snowy wreck, hard to believe this place was once filled with life, the buzz of progress and hopes of the future...now it's crawling with mutilated Dregs and Vandals, and the whirring sound of machinery replaced with the hum of Shanks and Servitors hovering overhead. And in the shadows the Hive can still be found here.

I've always found the Hive particularly unsettling, I remember when I first happened upon a group of Thrall. I had leapt backwards in horror as the creatures spilled out of the darkness, it was impossible to tell how many there were, I lay on the ground as sharp, clawed limbs tore at my armour. I'll never forget the smell of the Hive either, you can smell them before you see them sometimes, a dusty, mouldy smell. But up close the scent of decay and death is almost overwhelming. I'm reminded of the smell whenever I visit Eris, I think it's all the odd trinkets she has.

But I'll take Thrall over Wizards any day. You can deal with a Thrall with a single bullet if you're steady, but Wizards can be a real danger if you're unprepared. In the past I'd been known to freeze at the sound of them, paralysed with fear by that sickening shriek.

Of course now it takes more than that to throw me off balance, but it did take a while for me to reach this point, longer than my fellow Guardians.

After my 'introduction' into a life serving the last of civilisation of Earth you quickly realise you need more than a gun, you need to call upon something greater.

Now, the Light manifests itself differently in every Guardian, some use immense strength and channel this power through their fists. Others can manipulate this force to flow through their mind and body in the form of sorcery.

But me? I prefer stealth, next to my ghost my knife is my sidekick. That and a well-timed smoke bomb.

We all use our abilities to control either solar, arc or void energy. I wish I understood how it worked in greater depth but really that's more of a Warlock pursuit. Each of the three energies have a distinct feel to them, I remember my first encounter with them, each builds in your chest then flows through the arms to your fingertips, and in my case to the blade in my hand.

Solar energy is a wave of heat burning along your flesh, Arc is like tiny bolts of lightning zigzagging down your bones, and Void is something bizarre, it's doesn't have a direct feeling or a temperature, it's like a pulse of something and nothing, like a heavy emptiness, or a strong yet short gust of wind. None of them are painful, for you anyway.

The hard part is controlling and using these forces properly. For a while I questioned whether I really was a Guardian, perhaps the Ghost had made a mistake? When we wake we have everything explained to us, more or less. And soon enough our role and path becomes clear, for me the moment I picked up a knife was the moment I knew I was a Hunter, well it wasn't a knife as such, it was a scrap of metal on the ground but it worked well enough until I got my hands on an old rifle.

After my Ghost found me we were heading for shelter when a couple of Dregs emerged from behind some rocks, and almost subconsciously I grabbed the shard of metal and drove it straight into the throat of the one closest to me then ran, which wasn't easy given I was still stiff and sore from my long nap.

How long? Well a lot happened while I lay in the wreckage. Wars and great battles had passed over my very bones, I once asked my Ghost just what was left of me to resurrect. He didn't answer, didn't even look up from the pile of rusted circuit boards we'd found in the Rocket Yard while a group of us were on a training exercise one afternoon.

I then asked why he had chosen me. What use was I to the future of the universe?

'All I remember is a tiny speck of light that grew to slowly reveal the clear sky above me.'

'And I knew I must start looking, I didn't know what for but I began to sense flickers of light, like a residue, some brighter and bolder that others but none of them were what I was searching for. No, I was sure I'd know it when I found it'

'It was by chance I found you, the Fallen had been following me for a few days, so I hid amongst some rubble of what was believed to be an old residential district, according to some fragmented Golden Age map data'

'So I died during the Golden Age? Or the Collapse maybe?'

'Possibly. But I had initiated a routine scan for…..aggressive lifeforms and that was when I found you!'

'I had to assess the data multiple times because I had calculated the probability of locating you to be around 17.102016-'

'Blink'

'Sorry, but regardless of the math I knew it was you, you were quite soiled but I cleaned you up well enough'

'Wait, soiled?! Urgh!'

'What disgusts you about soil, earth, from the ground?'

'Ohhh you meant mud, we need to tweak your speech a little there Blinky.

So was I buried? Or had stuff just built up and grown over me?'

We never got any further, a message on the comms interrupted us.

'Listen up Guardians, we've got a serious threat on the radar, be first to take 'em out and they'll be a nice-'

'Ahem! Cayde how's the report from your scouts going?'

'Err a nice hearty, perfectly legal handshake! Ahahahaa'

A nearby group took care of it, back at the tower I heard it was a Prime Servitor, it seems they had a real fight on their hands.

The Fallen House of Devils had a Servitor hidden down in the Cosmodrome, had to take down a Baron, a Walker and scores of Fallen, and Hive.

* * *

Well that's the first part of the story, I hope you all liked it. As I've said this is my first try at fanfiction so any feedback would be great!

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

During all the training and group patrols I met a Warlock with a flair for Arc by the name of Clara, and her Ghost, Spinner.

She was quite chatty and excitable which seemed to annoy the others but I didn't mind it so much. She had been at the Tower a week or so longer than me so she ended up showing me around.

We had a rest day so we headed on down to the Merchant Sector, an area just past the north side.

This place was buzzing with activity, Guardians and civilians alike buying and selling all sorts of items at makeshift stalls and tents.

You could get anything here, and I mean ANYTHING. If you knew where to look.

Occasionally Cayde could be found shuffling his way through the crowds, hood pulled over his face, taking care of some questionable business probably.

We laughed about it while admiring some handcrafted leather ammo pouches.

All around us there were sounds of conversation and stall owners and shoppers negotiating. Next to the leather craftsman's stall were the food stands.

There were different meats varying from wild boar and rabbit to exotic seafood, all caught beyond the Tower.

You could buy it raw, roasted and smoked, any way you'd like really.

It was usually Hunters manning these stalls, since their particular skill set made them good at setting traps and stalking their pray.

Stews and soups in travel containers were a popular choice amongst the Guardians, as were dried fruits and meats. These were great for long patrols and missions that lasted long into the night, often food sources were scarce.

There were also people selling fresh fruit and vegetables, baked goods like bread and finally a stand for herbs and spices. All of these stalls combined created the most incredible smell, savoury and spicy mixed with a warm sweetness.

But by far the most popular merchant was Victor, he was an older, gruff looking man with a lot of facial hair and easily towered over everyone, even most Titans. He looked like he'd been out in the wind and always seemed dressed for winter with his layers of warm clothes and fur lined boots. He wore a tattered maroon scarf and was usually seen with barrels or crates on his large shoulders.

He spoke with a deep, rough voice and meeting him for the first time was an intimidating affair.

But once you got to know him you realised he was quite the gentle giant, and was always greeting friends with either a pat on the back that could easily send you flying if you weren't prepared or a rib crushing hug.

Rumour is he was a powerful Titan himself many years ago but something happened to him that made him lay down his rifle for good, no one has ever plucked up the courage to ask him about it though.

Once or twice month he would set up a large tent and fill it with tables and chairs, some of which were just crates or other containers. In the centre was a large oil drum in which a fire would be lit creating a wonderfully warm and cosy glow. And in this cramped tent was the Towers tavern.

Alcohol was something that was really hard to get a hold of, good alcohol anyway.

It is said that before The Collapse it could be bought almost anywhere, but as humanity fell it became almost impossible to manufacture, like all things. Only those with the ability to brew, distil or ferment the required ingredients were able to make it. And thanks to the technological advances of The Golden Age there was no need to have this skill anymore so people with it were few and far between.

But Victor was one of these people.

The Tavern proved to be a great place for everyone to relax and share stories. For those few hours the world felt almost normal, like there was no war, no need for walls, and no enemies waiting beyond them.

Victor served beers and ciders for most of the year, but would sometimes have wines and even a few spirits. His whiskey was the most popular, but also the most expensive drink he sold.

Many months after that first visit Clara, myself and a few others had just returned from a mission. The Vanguard had sent us to the Moon, it was a standard sweep and clear but for a couple of us, including me, it was the first time setting foot on its surface.

Overall it had gone well. So it was a cause for celebration. We headed for the Tavern.

When we entered the tent we found others were celebrating too. The Vanguards top fireteam had just destroyed something called the Shrine of Oryx deep below the Hellmouth, the Hive were believed to be using it to connect to something, some kind of deity or ruler perhaps? But whatever the reason this was a vital step in the Towers efforts to push back the darkness, even if just for a short while.

The sounds of laughter, cheering and cups and glasses clanging together filled the tent. Everyone was already quite drunk and a group had burst into songs and chants.

We squeezed our way past the full tables to where Victor was filling glasses with his famous beverages. We also spotted Cayde in the corner with playing cards in one hand and a whiskey in the other, and in the centre of the table was a pile of Glimmer. On the other side of the room was Zavala, he was sitting with a group of other Titans having what looked like a very serious conversation and occasionally shooting a disapproving glare at the rowdy group singing Golden Age folk songs

After getting our drinks we found ourselves an empty table near the fire and started chatting about the adventures of day.

'….and did you see Clara's face when that Vandal popped up!' Teased a young Exo Titan named Xander.

'Hey! I thought I'd cleared them all, it just caught me off guard! And you can talk, slacking in the back the whole time!' Clara replied with a slight blush in her cheeks.

Along with Clara and Xander there was also Icarus, an Awoken Warlock who was always silent and serious. He was one of those people who didn't like to waste words, and was a perfectionist. But he was always willing to help anyone who needed it. Surprisingly, he and Clara got along well, I think they balanced each other out. I would always drop hints about the two of them, I thought they'd make a cute couple.

They complimented each other in battle too, different fighting styles but they worked well together. Icarus's precise nature made him a great sniper and his grenades always hit the target, and Clara's bold and relentless energy meant she was never afraid to charge the enemy with all she had.

This afternoon was a perfect example of this. While scouting an area near the Golden Age accelerator we encountered a number of Shanks and Dregs. We quickly set about dealing with the threat, Icarus provided cover while Clara took care of the bulk of the damage. While Clara took down all in front of her with ease Icarus hung back and picked off the rest, thanks to the combined efforts they were dropping like flies. While this was happening Xander and I headed for the building they seemed to be pouring from. Inside we found a Captain, clearly he was the one calling the shots here. At the sight of us he turned his cannon on us. We leapt behind a wall and readied our weapons, when we emerged we saw he was accompanied by two Shanks and a Vandal.

This proved harder than we first thought, the Captain was not like others we'd faced. We took out the Shanks and Vandal just fine but the Captain just dodged our bullets like they were nothing, when we were actually able to get a clean shot without the risk of facing that cannon.

I threw down a smoke bomb and we quickly hid, that bought us some time at least.

'How are you for ammo?' Xander asked, reloading his auto rifle.

'Not as well stocked as I'd like' I replied bitterly.

'Are we ever?' He chucked trying to lighten the dark mood we found ourselves in.

'I wonder how Clara and Icarus are doing out there' I asked.

'They'll be fine, he wouldn't let anything happen to her, he'd never admit that of course'

'Plus Clara is hardly the damsel in distress type'

I agreed with this but still, I was worried.

'So, you say we give it one last try, I've got my shotgun but it's pretty useless at this range, I'd need to get closer. Maybe you could distract him?'

'That might work, he wouldn't risk using that cannon once you're close'

'But why am I the bait?' I added.

'Because my armours designed to deal with impact better than yours, plus what are you going to do? Knife him in the ba-'

Xander's sentence was cut short as a blast hit the crates we had hidden behind, we'd been found.

'Well that's our cue!' I just knew Xander was grinning underneath his helmet.

But before we could put our plan into action, a door behind the Captain burst open, it was one of Icarus's grenades, the glow of solar energy remained where the door had been as Clara entered the room.

She was floating a few inches above the ground and the room was alight with blinding flashes of electricity.

Waves of Arc bolts spread from her outstretched hands like veins. They connected with the Captain and a cracking and buzzing sound resonated all around as the Captain writhed and shrieked, paralysed by Clara's attack. And with one final surge of power she hovered closer as the Captain began convulsing as the shocks tore through him until both he and Clara fell to the ground.

We all rushed to her side but Icarus was the one who caught her.

'What happened?! Spinner!' I called for her Ghost.

'It's OK, she just collapsed from exhaustion, using those kind of abilities can be particularly difficult for those still in training' Spinner said while floating around Clara, analysing her physical state.

After a few moments she came to.

'Sorry guys, was sure I had that down' she mumbled.

'Hey it worked well enough' Xander gestured to the still slightly smoking remains of the Captain.

'Just save a little energy for yourself next time'.

Icarus nodded in silent agreement while helping her to her feet.

Clara didn't stay fatigued for long, by the time we'd left the building she was back to her old self. The rest of day went smoothly.

We had been drinking and talking long into the night, the tavern had emptied and all that remained was the celebrating fireteam, a few pairs dotted around and our little group. Even Victor had joined in the party and by now was also drunk, he had moved from behind the bar to sit with a pair of older looking Guardians. His laughter could be heard booming throughout the tent.

The group of men were joking and remembering old times.

'….And the thing fell apart in my hand, well I went straight to Banshee and gave him what for!'

'You sure you didn't mess up like last time, I swear while cleaning his rifle he managed to lose the firing pin! How does that even happen?!'

A short while later everyone had left except for the four of us.

'Well I think I'll be leaving now, goodnight everyone' Icarus announced while standing and gathering his things.

'Wow, even when he's hammered he doesn't say much, does he?' Xander chuckled, finishing his beer and checking the time.

'I'm not hammered, I can hold my alcohol' He replied, almost frowning. I say almost because he rarely let his emotions show.

'Ok, ok. Well I'm gonna join Mr life-of-the-party and call it a night too' Xander clapped his hands together and stood alongside Icarus.

'See you guys tomorrow' Clara got up to hug them both, although I'm sure the hug she gave Icarus lasted a little longer. Xander and I exchanged a knowing glance.

'Hey Clara, I need to talk to you about something actually' I mentioned as Clara was gathering the glasses on the table.

'Yeah sure what's up?'

'Well, what's the deal with you and Icarus' I whispered making sure the guys were out of earshot.

'What do you mean?' Blushing and taken aback by my question Clara stacked the glasses in the centre of the table.

'Oh you know! He always seems to hang around you and when we're in the field he's practically never lets you out of his sight'

'Well that's because we work well together, Warlock solidarity an' all that' She added regaining her composure.

'Really! I'm you have more than your skills in common!' I took a sip from my glass with a raised eyebrow.

'He's just a friend!' Clara shouted, getting flushed again.

'Sure, sure. Well I've always said you two would work well together. You'd better snap him up before someone else does, you know because weird is the new hot!' I joked.

We both laughed and took our empty glasses to the bar where Victor now stood getting ready to close for the night.

'Thanks again Victor!' we handed him our glasses and got ready to leave.

Victor was cleaning a glass and staring at a mark on the counter, lost in thought. His cheeks a little red from all the drink he had consumed.

'Sorry, glad to have you, and the lads too' He replied with a small smile.

We looked at one another concerned, and not sure if we should ask what was the matter. We had only known him a short while and no one knew much about his private life so it didn't seem right to pry.

So we wished him goodnight and headed for the door.

'I'm sure by now you've heard' said a familiar gruff voice.

'I was like you, a Guardian'

It was Victor, he was staring into the fading embers in the oil drum.

'My wife and I made quite the team'

'Her name was Eleanor, she was an amazing Hunter. Lethal and beautiful, a dangerous mix!' He chuckled.

'One day we were out scouting, just a routine op'

'We were about to call it a day and head back, but then the ketch appeared'

Clara and I listened intently as his words filled the empty tent.

'We had walked into a trap, two smaller ships came out of nowhere, we knew we had no chance so we ran'

'We tried contacting the Tower or anyone nearby but they'd jammed all comms'

'Wave after wave of them surrounded us, we were being herded like cattle, straight into the mine field they'd set...'

He took a sip from his cup, he had poured himself a whiskey. Blink and Spinner had come out to listen.

'The first explosion left us temporarily deaf and blind, we tried to escape but it was impossible, I could feel her clinging to my arm but then she was gone'

'Where was she? Did the Fallen take her?' asked Clara.

'No. A second mine had exploded, she was on the ground...and her ghost was completely destroyed, I picked her up and ran, I didn't know where I was going but I ran'

'All the smoke from the explosions actually proved useful because even though I couldn't see the Fallen couldn't see us either'

'So did you escape?' Spinner eagerly questioned while hovering above our heads.

'We got away from them, yes. I'd found a cave. But Eleanor was hurt, badly hurt. Both her legs where broken and blood was spilling from under her chest armour. I begged my Ghost to help her but he was badly damaged from the explosions'

Both Blink and Spinner looked at one another, but said nothing.

'I tried to save her but even if I could have stopped the bleeding her injuries were too severe, her rib cage had been practically shattered in the blast...she knew she was dying'

To my left I could see the glow of the fading coals reflected in tears that had formed in Clara's eyes.

'She used the last of strength to conceal the entrance to the cave, an old Hunter trick. She told me to stay safe, and to return to the Tower. And then she was gone...I was so angry, I blamed my Ghost, and Zavala, for not realising what they were sending us into. But they couldn't have known, no one could'

'It was that moment I decided I was done with being a Guardian, I wanted no part of it anymore'

'But my anger I did something cruel and foolish...once I'd recovered enough to get back to the ship and was sure the Fallen were gone I turned to my broken Ghost and I ordered him not to follow. I told him I was no longer a Guardian and I didn't need him anymore. Then I left'

'He didn't try and stop me, I'll never forget what he said as I left the cave'

He got up from his seat, set his cup down on a nearby crate and walked to the door of the tent and looked out into the night.

'What did he say?' We all asked, unable to stop ourselves.

'He promised he'd watch over Eleanor's resting place, and would always be there if I needed him. But my mind was too clouded by grief and rage to listen'

'So where is your Ghost?' Blink quietly asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

'Well if I know him he'll still be in that cave, whether or not he's alive is something I'll never know. I was never able to find the cave again...like I said Eleanor was incredibly talented'

'I've never known anyone as loyal as him, nor have I met anyone that loyal since'

We all sat in silence as we let his story sink in, we wondered how many others knew about his past.

He told us that the scarf he wore was what was left of Eleanor's cloak and the small clasp was the remains of her ghost's outer shell. Both Blink and Spinner flinched slightly at those words.

I could tell Clara wanted to hug Victor but she didn't. She just stood there in shock.

'Well you girls best be heading to bed, I'm sure you've got a day of hard work ahead of you'

'Um yeah, listen Victor-' I started but Victor stopped me.

'No, no it's alright, I'm alright, now off you go, Zavala will have my head if I keep his Guardians out too late'

Reassured that he was going to be ok we got ready to leave. Clara finally gave in to her urge to hug Victor. He was surprised but accepted the hug with a gentle smile.

'Now take care of each other, Xander and Icarus too'

'We will, we make a pretty good team!' Clara grinned.

'So I've heard!' He chuckled and saw us to the door.

We wished him goodnight and left for the Living Quarters. We both silently decided not to tell anyone else what Victor had told us.


	3. Chapter 2

'Now it's time to play with the big boys! oh and girls' Cayde grinned placing his hands down on the desk in front of him.

'We've got intel that says we need to be on Venus'

Murmuring and whispers erupt from the group of Guardians before him.

'Now at present this situation is a strictly need to know deal, so all you need to know is we need the place cleared and we need info on what exactly we're dealing with'

At these words Zavala entered the room.

'Aerial scouting has shown a number of Fallen threats which will need to be neutralised if we hope to move forward and succeed' he added.

As I leaned in closer to look at the various maps spread across the table I felt a gentle thud of someone tapping me on the shoulder.

'This looks exciting huh?'

Xander had just arrived with Icarus not far behind, his features laced with their usual seriousness. He immediately became lost in concentration over the maps and screens displaying all the information the tower had on what would be new terrain for us.

By now Cayde and Zavala were moving around the table assigning tasks and coordinates to groups of trainees, occasionally a ghost could be seen floating overhead examining the maps.

Cayde then turned to us but before he could speak Clara came practically skipping into the room and over to us, her short blonde hair bouncing slightly with each step and a large smile on her face.

'Morning!' She chimed, looking incredibly chipper as she eyed the tablet computer Cayde had in his hand.

'Here's the objective and route info' he said offering the tablet to our group.

'Should be some simple breaking and entering, put down whatever lacky they have guarding the place, some basic hacking, well mostly basic, steal what we need and get your asses out in one piece' he caught Zavala glaring from the other side of the table.

'What? Why sugarcoat it?' Cayde shrugged.

'Anyway, good luck guys!'

Clara was bobbing up and down on her heels and chatting away about testing her new rifle and how she hoped the humidity on Venus wouldn't ruin her hair, while Icarus was still studying the maps and checking his ghost had copies of the new data.

'Any tips?' Xander asked adjusting his armour.

'Yeah, you!' pointing to Clara,

'Lay off the coffee, I'm getting a migraine just looking at you'

An amused yet muffled snort could be heard from the Titans helmet.

Cayde turned to Icarus,

'And you, get some coffee, or a can of this stuff a buddy of mine found, looks like piss but-'

'Cayde! Ikora told you that liquid was unhealthy if not dangerous and probably expired years ago' Zavala said with a look of disgust.

'Expiry dates on stuff like that are just guidelines aren't they?'

Deciding to leave those two to their usual bickering we headed for the stairs.

'I haven't had any coffee today' Clara muttered while pulling on her gloves.

After a short walk we arrived at the hanger and Icarus began his ritual of pre flight checks, even if Amanda already did it.

Few people understood Icarus, admittedly even I found him odd at first. Many mistook him for unsociable and rude, or just really dull.

But he is a good person, and intelligent too, beyond the usual Warlock intelligence that is. And something about his presence is quite calming, which proves useful for our little group since we can sometimes get pretty energetic and that can lead to recklessness. I've always believed it's Icarus's level headed nature that allows him to control his chosen power so well, Solar energy.

Flames are a difficult thing to control, they can quickly spread and grow to the point of being dangerous if not used properly. But it seems to come naturally to him, much to my envy.

Whilst these thoughts crossed my mind I subconsciously ran my fingers across a scar I had on the palm of my hand from when I had tried to infuse a grenade with flames but I wasn't able to hold the energy steady long enough to throw it and was left with a rather angry scorch mark on my hand. I pretty much left the Solar arts alone after that.

Whilst preparing the ships and supplies I spotted Xander chatting with Amanda and couldn't help smiling, he was clearly trying to impress her and was failing spectacularly!

'Give. it up. Titan, married. to her. ships. this one!' Called an assistant bot that had been modded to have more of a 'personality' than the standard models, made for some fun workplace banter apparently.

'Careful now, could easily turn you into an espresso machine!' Amanda replied with a smirk.

'Anyways, you guys are good to go! Remember if you see any interesting scrap send it my way!'

And with that we were in our ships and headed to Venus. Clara's excited chatting filled the comms all the way there as usual, nobody minded of course, it made the journey in our one man vessels more interesting and less lonely.

 **Just a short one for now, I've been kind of stuck where to go with it, didn't really plan it out very well!**

 **Again I'd really appreciate some feedback since this is my first piece, I will try and get more chapters up though!**


	4. Chapter 3

'Looks like the coordinates are up ahead' said Blink.

We landed on a relatively flat area but we were still a little unsteady at first.

'Careful. The gravity is slightly different here' Icarus was gingerly pressing his foot into the ground.

'Don't worry, you'll adjust quickly, according to reports anyway' his Ghost added.

'So, what's first?' Xander said, stretching.

This was the first time any of the trainees had been to Venus, the Vanguard didn't want us straying too far from home until we were prepared for what was out there.

It was unlike anything I'd ever seen, or that I remember seeing at least.

Areas covered in lush exotic plants blended with large structures built by the native creatures and in the distance was the remains of a city.

The climate was humid and heavy here, our helmets filtered any toxins or dangerous gases but we could still feel the warmth and smell the moisture in the air. It smelt like the greenhouses back home after a storm, except there was also a slightly rusty smell too.

'According to scouts there's a lab nearby that we need access to, but the place went into lockdown years ago after a security breach, probably the locals poking around, there's an external security system located outside the lab but it's well hidden'

Blink had been floating above our heads giving our landing area a quick once over.

'Whoever built the facility put it in a safety net, in case the lockdown protocol was triggered accidentally'.

'Find the secret computer and hack the secret computer? Sounds easy enough!'

Clara added while loading her gun and checking the sight.

'Not exactly. The lab has another protocol that will destroy all data and materials inside if any unauthorised personnel tries to disable the security, so this will a delicate job'

Spinner warned whilst hovering near Clara's shoulder.

'Just once I'd like a 'pop to the shops for some milk' kind of job you know?' Xander sighed and we started walking towards the buildings in the distance.

We found ourselves on what may have been a road some time ago as we neared the city. Clara was eagerly walking in front and I could imagine her beaming in wonder at the surroundings under her helmet.

'Hey Icarus! What's this plant? Ooh! And this one! Or that one?' She called over whilst admiring some of the nearby flowers.

'They'd look great in the windows back home don't you think?' She added leaning to pick one.

'Don't!' Icarus leapt forward and grabbed her hand but just as quickly let go, probably embarrassed.

'This ones dangerous. See how it looks slightly sticky?'

We all lean in for a closer look.

'It secretes a sap-like substance. It's poisonous and has been known to be acidic'.

'And the others probably wouldn't survive very long in our climate' he stood and brushed the soil from his legs.

Icarus could be uncharacteristically chatty when Clara was involved.

By the time he'd finished speaking we'd all backed up a few steps from the potentially dangerous flora.

'Oh. That's a shame, I liked the colour!' Clara said with disappointment.

'Well, now we're done looking at the pretty flowers we should hurry up and find this lab' Xander took a few steps forward and but then stopped suddenly.

'What's-'

He raised a hand and we all drew our weapons and listened.

Silence. The occasional breeze rustled though the trees but nothing more.

'Spinner, is there anything nearby?' Clara asked aiming her rifle towards the bushes.

'Not detecting anything but there could be interference'

We slowly edged forward, Xander first, followed by Clara and Icarus facing the left and right then myself, looking behind.

'We're too exposed out here. Let's find cover' I whisper and everyone nodded in agreement.

Keeping our formation we move along the road until we start seeing less trees and more buildings.

'So what was it? Did you see something?' Clara was the first to speak.

'No, but I heard something, not sure what though'

answered Xander.

'Most likely Fallen scouts. There were reports of them being in the area' Xanders Ghost had appeared above his shoulder.

'Or Vex' Icarus had reverted to fewer words.

'It's possible' Blink said watching for any movement nearby.

'So what do we have on them, the Vex?' I asked.

'Well they're a machine race that has total control of Mercury and a section of Venus, they are capable of teleportation and have been found to share a single hive mind. It's believed they can manipulate reality and travel through time...wonderful' Blink replied.

'They turn planets into machines and it's thought that they are attempting to incorporate themselves into the very fabric of time and space' Another Ghost added.

After another half an hour of careful movement we reached the city, now we had to find the security facility.

'So do we have coordinates?' Clara called out before wiping dirt from the nearest window and looking inside.

'We have approximate coordinates' Icarus answered whilst his Ghost projected an image of a map onto the ground in front of us.

'So' Xander looked around.

'It's one of these buildings?'

'I say we each take one and one person stays outside keeping watch' he pointed to the three blocks within the circled area.

We had a few rounds of rock, paper, scissors to decide who stayed outside.

'Aww that sucks!' Clara had lost.

'It's going to be so boring!'

'Don't worry we'll radio you if it gets interesting!' I reassured her while Xander patted her on the shoulder.

We each picked a building and headed inside. The door opened with relative ease, I wasn't sure if was a good thing.

Once inside Blink and looked around.

'I'm not even sure what this place used to be'

'Looks like it's been ransacked a while ago' I called back.

I opened a cabinet and found nothing but something that resembled binders and papers but it looked like they been wet and then had rotted slightly before drying out, I picked one up and it broke apart in my hands.

The rest of the room had a large counter or desk and some chairs, mostly broken and scattered across the floor, and everything had a thick layer of dust.

'So up or down?' Blink had found an elevator.

'Large computers are usually in basements right?'

I figured down would be the most likely location so I look a knife from my belt and pressed it between the doors to create a gap large enough to pry it open.

'After you Blink' I reached out for the cables inside to lower myself to the bottom floor. 'Why me?!'

'Well you're the torch for starters'

'Fine, but you better hope its deserted down there!'

Blink then descended downward and I watched the light shining from his centre as I lowered myself after him.

We reached the bottom and had to force another set of doors open, we were greeted with darkness.

Blink moved ahead a little to illuminate part of the area and we found we were in a long corridor.

Along the walls were a few doors and a set of windowless doors at the end.

'My glimmers on that one' I pointed to the end of the corridor.

We approached the doors and found them to securely locked, unsurprisingly.

'That looks like a pretty sophisticated system' I said glancing at the console on the wall. It looked like it needed facial and fingerprint scans as well as an alphanumerical passcode.

'Get the front panel off, carefully, and I'll see if I can get inside' I gently eased the front of the device from the wall and Blink set to work, occasionally he could be heard muttering to himself. The corridor was now in darkness as the light he made was pointed at the console.

After a while I heard a sound from the elevator shaft.

'Hey! I think we found it! Blinks just-'

I thought it was one of the others having finished searching, or Clara had gotten bored.

First there was the slightly metallic sound of something landing at the bottom of the elevator. Xander maybe? His armour was pretty noisy at times.

No, he would shouted something, some comment about me getting lost.

Next was another sound, almost mechanical.

Then I saw a single red light shining from the open door.


End file.
